Richard Marles, the Australian Prime Minister in Power on Sunday gave a statement where he addressed the country’s diplomatic actions towards the war-riddled nations of Russia and Ukraine. Australia is considering reestablishing its embassy in Kyiv while the country is also not going to ban Russian tourists from visiting. The ban was requested by the Ukraine authorities before getting rejected by the nation.
The strong ties with Ukraine appear to be shaky right now.
To bolster Australia’s existing relationship with Ukraine, the Prime Minister suggested providing military aid to Ukraine. PM Marles believes that Australia must get ready for a long-lasting conflict so based on that they should provide long-term support to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Ambassador, Myroshnychenko had requested that Australia should prohibit Russian tourists from entering the country by not issuing any visas. The ambassador had tweeted that Australia should still issue refugee visas to citizens planning to escape Russian autocracy.
Ambassador Myroshnychenko believes that more than 80 percent of Russian people support the brutal atrocities the Russian government had forced upon Ukraine so those people should face some consequences as their responsibility. He then goes on to compare that Russians should be held accountable for their crimes just like the Germans were for Nazi crimes.
PM Marles had shrugged off the ambassador’s words.
PM Marles says that Australia is already holding the real perpetrators of the war, that is the Russian government, accountable. He says that Australia has already imposed a number of sanctions on Russia and that they are punishing the Russian government’s actions who are the focus of the sanctions.
According to him, Russian citizens are not responsible for the crimes and should not be blamed either. They are not at all focused on the Russian citizens at the moment, but they are a big part of the global base of sanctions against the Russian authorities.
A big chunk of the global nation’s embassies has made their way back to the capital city of Ukraine, Kyiv after the conflict had quieted down in the area. Despite this, the Australian embassy remains shut but PM Marles says that the opening is under consideration though he would not put a definite time frame by when it will be re-established.
On Sunday, he said that to re-open the embassy there is going to be a lot of hassle, especially with the security of their diplomatic officers, support, and logistics. But there is also a lot of assessment that is in continuation. The Australian embassy is a lot smaller so it is important that they thoroughly assess the situation. The embassy should function smoothly.
PM Marles also plans to provide military aid to Ukraine soon but has not given any specific details or information. He said that they are having continuous back-and-forth talks with Ukraine to provide support and he is hopeful to find more ways that they can continue the ongoing conversations.
According to the country’s federal government report reports, the support to Ukraine given by the country is among the biggest in non-NATO countries.
July 2022 witnessed Australia’s new Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese to become the first leader to officially visit Ukraine, where he had announced military assistance to Kyiv with an support package additionally worth AUD$99.5 million.
The Aussies have been very supportive of Ukraine during the war started by Russia’s invasion. In April-June 2022, Ukraine had been provided AUD$225 million as military aid and AUD$65 million in humanitarian aid.
With the sanctions also implemented on Russia by the government, it is pretty clear that Australia firmly supports Ukraine.
